Sep

And Now For Something Completely Different—The Big Sur Fashion Show

by Meredith Mullins on September 10, 2018

Jamie Oksas dances in a fashion made of netting, rope, crayons, and shoe laces—a cultural encounter with community spirit at the Big Sur Fashion Show. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The Big Sur Fashion Show is so much more than a fashion show.
(Designer, model, and dancer: Jamie Oksas)
© Meredith Mullins

A Cultural Encounter with the Spirit of Community

The Fashion Week buzz is brewing in Paris, New York, and London, where unsmiling models will soon walk briskly on catwalks with haughty disdain. But we, on the California Coast, are thousands of (metaphoric and real) miles away.

We’re at The Big Sur Fashion Show—a vibrant and unconventional celebration of artistic imagination.

Meredith Mullins 10 Comments

Cultural Encounters/USA

Sep

Shaking Up Cultural Traditions By Seeking Silence

by Meredith Mullins on September 3, 2018

View of Pacific coast from the New Camaldoli Hermitage, a place where seeking silence is the norm and where the cultural traditions of Labor Day can be challenged. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The view from the New Camaldoli Hermitage on the Pacific Coast of California
© Meredith Mullins

A Memorable Labor Day Celebration

Happy Labor Day —the unofficial end of summer and, for many folks, a transition to the action-packed days of autumn.

School. New friends. New adventures. A farewell to lazy beach days. TV season premieres. Fall fashion trends. Back to work. NFL kickoffs in the U.S. The rentrée (return) in France. A change in weather. A change in light.

A time of new beginnings.

Before the action starts, it is sometimes good to pause and take a deep breath. As for me, I decided to shake up the cultural traditions of the Labor Day holiday and travel in search of silence.

A view of the Big Sur coast, where seeking silence can open senses to challenge the cultural traditions of Labor Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Senses awake to some of the most beautiful meeting of land and sea on the planet.
© Meredith Mullins

In Search of Silence

I chose to treat this summer transition as a mini New Year’s and travel to a remote hermitage on the Pacific Coast to just “contemplate,” however that might manifest itself . . . and to take good deep breaths of clear, quiet air.

The New Camaldoli Hermitage rests on 900 acres of the California Central Coast, where rugged hills and rocky Pacific shoreline meet dramatically at the twisting edge of the continent.

Iron sign for the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, a place for seeking silence and challenging the cultural traditions of Labor Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Welcome to the hermitage, where land, sea, and contemplation merge.
© Meredith Mullins

While the hermitage is not too far from civilization, it boasts the enviable perks of no cell phone service, no wifi, no TV or radio, magnificent natural surroundings, a welcoming community of Benedictine monks, and dedication to silence.

(It was also only recently re-connected to the rest of the world after winter rains caused mudslides that crumbled the highway to the north and south.)

Road int he Big Sur hills near the New Camaldoli Hermitage, a place where seeking silence and challenging cultural traditions of Labor Day are possible. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The roads are fragile and often succumb to the winter elements of rain and moving earth.
© Meredith Mullins

This is a place where listening takes precedence. Where contemplation is the norm. Where you are not pulled out of yourself by external stimuli. Instead, you turn inward, and your senses come alive. You see and hear things in a different way. Magnified, yet simplified.

A bench by the road at the Big Sur New Camaldoli Hermitage, a place for seeking silence and challenging the cultural traditions of Labor Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Benches that invite opening the senses
© Meredith Mullins

Ready for Reflection

As I drove from town down the winding coast road, I knew I was ready for reflection. My mind was already shaking things loose. I was leaving the “to do” lists and the practicalities of daily life on the road behind me.

A parade of random thoughts began to form, broke ranks, and then bounced around for awhile without structure. I conjured things from past, present, and future. I saw the coast road as I had never seen it before. Everything was dancing.

Plant and pinnacle on the Big Sur coast road near the New Camaldoli Hermitage, a place for seeking silence and challenging the cultural traditions of Labor Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

On the coast road
© Meredith Mullins

I did, however, notice that, in my reverie, I was talking to myself. Out loud. I knew I would have to thwart that impulse once I arrived at the silent hermitage. There would be no talking . . . not even to myself.

I admit to having trepidations. I had never been for a week without links to the external world. I thought perhaps I would wither from boredom (although I knew I could always jump in my car and head for town). I would be wanting for news and social interaction.

I didn’t wither. Instead, I found new life. A gift of time and freedom, where everything was a discovery . . . everything was a memorable “Oh, I see” moment.

Sun dial at the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, a place for seeking silence to challenge the cultural traditions of Labor Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The sun dial at the hermitage reads Carpe Diem (Seize the Day).
© Meredith Mullins

A New Way of Seeing

I spent hours in the secluded garden behind my room, looking out toward the ocean and the sloping ridge that would become an everpresent friend.

Sunset on the ridge with a fog bank in Big Sur at the New Camaldoli Hermitage, a place for seeking silence and challenging cultural traditions of Labor Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

My ridge: the first sunset over a coastal fog bank.
© Meredith Mullins

On the first day, the fog was thick. I looked out toward what would have been the ocean, but the fog, sky, and water had turned into simple blue immensity. The mixed elements seemed to glow with hidden light.

On the next day, my focus went from distant to close up. I became aware of the rocks in my garden. I studied the layers of time evident in the colorful striations. I memorized the shape of the leaves on the plants and trees.

A leaf and stalk of grass at the Big Sur New Camaldoli Hermitage, a place for seeking silence and challenging cultural traditions of Labor Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Every detail of nature was magnified.
© Meredith Mullins

Some days, I moved to the benches perched on the edge of the road, each of which had its own view of the land and sea.

Some days, I walked the trails or ventured down to the remote beaches.

Waves on the Pacific Coast, near the Big Sur New Camaldoli Hermitage, a place for seeking silence and challenging the cultural traditions of Labor Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Remote rhythms
© Meredith Mullins

On sunny days, I saw warmth. On foggy days, I saw mystery. And, each evening, a spectacular form of sunset occurred, most often through a layer of fog or clouds.

I was never bored. As Annie Dillard said, nature is so brilliant that all you have to do is show up. Showing up proved quite rewarding.

A golden sunset behind a cloud at the Big Sur New Camaldoli hermitage, a place for seeking silence and challenging the cultural traditions of Labor Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Each sunset was unique.
© Meredith Mullins

A New Way of Hearing

So what happens when you live a week in silence?

You listen. Sounds that are often lost in the noise of everyday life can now be heard. Your shoes crunch the earth. The birds become distinct personalities. The trees start to talk.

In the silence, a buzzing bee sounds like a jet engine, scurrying quail sound like giant bears crashing through the brush, and the gentle wind becomes a dominant instrument in this new world symphony.

I often felt rudely loud just chewing my cruciferous vegetables (a staple in the hermitage vegetarian food).

Tree with white flowers and a bee at the Big Sur New Camaldoli Hermitage, a place for seeking silence and challenging the cultural traditions of Labor Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

I sat near this tree, which was humming loudly. I finally realized that it housed a nectar convention
and hundreds of bees were partaking.
© Meredith Mullins

Labor Day Resolutions

While the monks of the New Camaldoli Hermitage embrace living in solitude and silence, it is not so easy for the average person when returning to normal life. All I could do was to make some silence-inspired resolutions.

I will choose a day a week to unplug. I will leave technology behind and attempt to return to the eloquence of silence that I experienced on the Big Sur coast.
Instead of checking email first thing in the morning (a bad habit I have), I will spend 15 minutes in silence. Whether this is “meditation” or just letting my mind wander and my senses awaken, the time will be well spent.
I will try to live more often like the zen bumper sticker says—“Don’t just do something. Sit there.”

Sunset through fog at the New Camldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, a place for seeking silence and challenging cultural traditions of Labor Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The silence of a sunset
© Meredith Mullins

Silence and stillness are truly art forms. These ideas are not new (practiced for many years around the world in a variety of cultures and religions). But they are a good way to shake up the current trends and cultural traditions that continue to increase noise and distraction.

In this world of constant movement and information overload, silence and stillness become important.

Branches with waves in the background near the Big Sur New Camaldoli Hermitage, a place for seeking silence and challenging the cultural traditions of Labor Day. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Changing perspectives
© Meredith Mullins

We shall see what these new beginnings bring. One thing I am sure of is that I have now experienced travel writer Pico Iyer‘s definition of an amazing destination—a place that sends one back home a different person from the one who left.

For more information about the New Camaldoli Hermitage, visit the website and Facebook page.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 14 Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/USA

Aug

Nature Watch: California Sea Otter Savvy

by Meredith Mullins on August 13, 2018

A California sea otter, reminding us to be on nature watch to protect them. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Too cute to be a threatened species
© Meredith Mullins

Protecting the Southern Sea Otter

Who wins the coveted “Most Adorable” award in the marine mammal yearbook year after year?

The California Sea Otter—hands down (or paws up, depending on your perspective).

If you travel to the California Central Coast and look to the Pacific Ocean or its estuaries (or visit the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium), chances are good that you will see some playful Southern Sea Otters. And you’ll fall in love.

Paws up
© Meredith Mullins

This threatened species is an ocean treasure of form and function . . . with a large dose of cute.

As you learn more about these intelligent creatures, the “Oh, I see” moments about their life and challenges will make them favorites for a long time.

A raft of California sea otters at Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, California, reminding us of our responsibilities on nature watch to protect them. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The Charismatic Sea Otter

What makes the California Sea Otter so special?

Their koala-like face sprinkled with long cat whiskers provides an intriguing mix of playfulness and inherent wisdom.
They sport a fur coat to die for (and they did—back in the fur trade days). We are fortunate that they have rallied from being almost extinct to a community of about 3200 on the California Central Coast (with the help of protection laws, of course).
Diving for food
© Meredith Mullins
The luxurious coat comes complete with pockets where they stuff their sea treasures. They’ve been seen to dive for food, and, if their paws are also going to be full, they stuff a few more shrimp or sand dollars in their pockets before they surface. Jackpot!
Munching on restaurant-quality shellfish
© Meredith Mullins
They are an eclectic blend of paws and flippers—with arms almost comically too short for their long streamlined bodies. But all parts work together so they are experts at diving for food, foraging for invertebrates (using their whiskers and paws), and finding tools to crack open the stubborn shells that house most of their food.
They are one of the few mammals to use tools and will make you smile with anthropomorphic appreciation as they attack a clam or abalone shell with a rock or whatever is handy (an abandoned sea-floating flip flop?)
Whatever tool is handy
© Sea Otter Savvy
They enjoy food with a crunch—restaurant-quality shellfish such as sea urchins, clams, mussels, crabs, snails, and abalone. (Note: The Monterey Bay Aquarium spends $15,000 a year to feed each of their rescued otters.)
When on land, sea otters look like their family cousins—weasels, ferrets, and badgers.
© Meredith Mullins
They have no blubber. Although this might seem like a weight watcher’s dream, they have to keep their metabolism high to stay warm—usually by eating about 25% of their body weight every day. (Think about it: If you’re a 180-pound person, you’d have to eat 20 pizzas a day. Too much?)
They also must groom their fur for 3–6 hours a day (perhaps a little longer on date night). They are trapping air between their outer hairs and underfur to make sure they stay warm. They are proud to have the densest fur on Earth, with up to one million hairs per square inch.
A stomach that doubles as a kitchen counter and dining room table
© Meredith Mullins
They have a streamlined body, with a stomach as flat as an aircraft carrier—perfect for preparing a feast and dining in style.
The sea otter also serves as an ecologic helper. Their favorite food is the sea urchin, which loves to feast on underwater forests. So, as they eat the sea urchins, they help to protect kelp forests for other creatures.

A California sea otter in the Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, floating on his back, reminding us of nature watch to protect them. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Protecting this Treasure

With all the sea otters’ positive features, it is important to protect the otter community. They survived being hunted for fur. They now have to survive oil spills and being a target of Great White Sharks’ “test bites” (by the time the shark discovers the otter is just a bag of fur, it’s usually too late for the otter).

A kayak at a distance from a group of California sea otters, a reminder of the nature watch to protect them. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Kayakers should keep their distance from otters (five kayak lengths),
to give them space to eat and rest in peace.
© Meredith Mullins

They also have to survive all those folks who are curious about their special life—the parade of kayakers, paddleboarders, and boaters.

Several groups come to the rescue. The Southern Sea Otter is protected by the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

A sign with guidelines about sea otter life, a nature watch responsibility. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Organizations like Sea Otter Savvy and the Monterey Bay Aquarium also provide education to the public to ensure that the otters can eat and rest in peace.

Kayak with two people in the Pacific Ocean after being educated about the California sea otter for nature watch to protect the otters. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Every time a kayaker or boat gets too close to an otter, the otter is disturbed and has to use precious energy to move away.

To remind kayakers and boaters of proper otter etiquette, Sea Otter Savvy works with kayak companies to place decals in every rented kayak or paddleboard. These decals remind visitors to give the otters space and to pass them in parallel. Don’t approach them head on or encircle them.

Two kayaks with decals about otter etiquette, a reminder for nature watch to protect them. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

To add to visitors’ education, Sea Otter Savvy also hosted a nationwide limerick contest and has now posted signs near otter habitats with the winners’ poetry.

Don’t paddle too close while we’re searchin’
For a crab or a tasty sea urchin.
Don’t land on our beach,
and stay well out of reach,
Or you’ll frighten us into submergin’.

—Laura Crowley

A warning sign with a limerick about California sea otter behavior in the Moss Landing harbor, a reminder about nature watch to protect the otters. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

When you’re out enjoying the water
Beware the inquisitive otter.
They might take a bite
Though not out of spite
Some just get more close than they ought’er

—Josh Silberg

A Speeding Kills Otters sign in Moss Landing, California, a reminder of nature watch to protect California sea otters. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Our Responsibilities

Sea Otter Savvy founder and passionate marine biologist Gena Bentall reminds us of our nature watch responsibility. Protection is up to humans—to make sure people around the sea otters are educated and respectful.

It’s too easy to be too curious about these remarkable creatures and get too close to them.

If a sea otter is looking at you, you’re too close, as cute as that interaction may be. Most importantly, remember that you are a guest in an amazing world.

Children watching California sea otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, reminding us to go on nature watch to protect the otters. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

For more information about California sea otter protection, visit Sea Otter Savvy and The Monterey Bay Aquarium. Otter feedings are at 10:30 am and 1:30 pm every day at the aquarium. Sea Otter Savvy is funded in large part by the California State Coastal Conservancy, funds which state taxpayers contribute through the California Sea Otter Fund.

If you can’t travel to the California Central Coast, check out the Elkhorn Slough otter cam.

Sea Otter Awareness Week is September 23–29. Spread the word.